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HOUSE OF THE SPIRIT - In the Black community there is a tradition of the preacher's kids being some of the wildest folks around. I can understand that. Think of the things they see.
One part of being the preacher's kid, from what I heard from a couple of preacher's daughters I used to hang with, is that people think they can show up at your house any time of the day or night with they problems. And you know what most folks problems are about:
- My husband/wife is catting around on me.
- We cain't pay our bills because we ran out of work.
- His/her mother is laid up and needs us to take care of them.
- How can I get this man to stop drinkin'?
- Our son/daughter is out of control.
And Preacher Man, he's gottah sit and listen to all this human misery, day after day, while trying to deal with his own life.
But sometimes he don't.
Sometimes, he so caught up in helping all these other folks that his own family gets moved way down the totem pole.
And from what I hear, the preacher's kids start to resent that feeling that everybody in the world's problems is more important than them.
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I mean, after all, they gets to hear about the Deacons' problems and church sisters back-biting, and learns about what hypocrisy is first hand long before many of us ever would. They get to see how un-Christian these so-called Christian folks can be. I think it makes 'em kindah cynical early on.
Then there is the whole lifestyle, Homes. They gottah go to church not only on Sundays, but extra days too, whether they want to or not. They gottah be praying all the time. They gottah be nice to a whole bunch of folks that they probably wouldn't hang with, given their druthers. And the worst part is, there is no escape from all this. They are the preacher's kids.
I don't blame them for wanting to get a little wild.
You wannah go out with a true freak? Find yourself a preacher's daughter, Homes. I promise you you will not be disappointed.
And here's the other part of this whole thang: Preacher Man, he's a performance artist. He up there in the pulpit week after week having to give a show so that folks will get all het up and drop money into them collection baskets.
He got to wail and sob and howl and moan and show folks the depths of Hell and the exultation of Heaven. You think, after a few years, his kids ain't figured this one out. IT'S A SHOW. Can I get an Amen!
So what would you be thinkin' about at 12 or 13 years old when you realize that it's not all about savin' folks souls, it's also about getting them to break out them wallets and drop some cash into the collection plates?
Yeah, there's old Cynicism coming back into the picture.
You have to start to wonder about the Choirmistress. About sister so-and-so and how she always gives the Reverend a special piece of pie. That's just human nature.
That's why preacher's kids turns out so bad... at least according to the tradition in our community.
Think what it would be like if Jimmy Swaggart was your Dad and you saw him up there getting into them crocodile tears about being caught with that whore.
Sometimes, the worst advertisement for Christianity is the Christians themselves.
RDR RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE DAY: Here's another great article over at the American Prospect that might make you think! Enjoy!
